Made of Gold
by BakerStreetBurglar
Summary: Percy and Annabeth take a well-needed vacation now that the weight of the world has been lifted. One shot, fluff. Enjoy:) All rights to Rick Riordan. This is basically my second fanfic, so please please please feel free to review! I'm sure I could use it;)


Annabeth and Percy both had enough of a childhood to know about Disney, but seeing as how Percy wasn't exactly affluent and Annabeth was running from monsters and family alike by the time she was seven...They felt a vacation to the Magic Kingdom was long due.

No longer the children of any prophecies, the weight of the world- literally- was now gone from their shoulders, and they thought they deserved a break. Sure, training all the new kids and hanging out and Camp Half-Blood without a constant threat to their lives was fun, but it was exhausting. So after Percy had proposed to Annabeth, Piper, uh, _convinced_ her super-rich dad to lend them some money. Tristan McLean probably wouldn't miss it, but Percy insisted on compensating with some drachmas. Sure, a mortal doesn't need the money of the gods to pay for takeout from Prometheus' Pizza Palace or Chimaera's Chinese Buffet... But the drachmas are made of pure gold, and any mortal can use that.

When Percy told Annabeth about their vacation, she didn't even protest. Percy thought she would surely try to stay home, since there's so much to be done around camp these days. But even Annabeth had recently been sneaking away from her duties and to spend time with Percy. Her only insistence was that they not take a bus or the Gray Sisters Taxi. Bad experiences.

"And no planes," Percy added. So, the pair decided to road-trip it in the camp vans.

At the park, Annabeth and Percy relished in every non-life-threatening moment they spent together. But once they'd gone on all the kiddy rides in Disney, Annabeth seemed a little more than reluctant to go into Universal.

"That's where all the fun rides are, Annabeth!"

"I know I know..." Annabeth was trying to come up with an excuse. "I've boycotted Universal movies, so I don't want to patronize their theme park."

Percy smirked at her.

"You've boycotted a film company you've seen maybe two movies from? Annabeth, are you scared?"

His tone was jokingly mocking.

"Oh shut up, Mr. "I-don't-want-to-fly-in-an-airplane Jackson. And besides, I still haven't quite gotten over the Waterland incident..."

"But I don't get it- you of all people should know that the rides are safe! You know all these architure-ing things, right?"

"Just because you know something's true doesn't mean you're not afraid you're wrong! I mean, if you're like a good swimmer, that doesn't mean you won't sometimes be scared of drowning, right?"

Percy looked at her, grinning.

"Bad example, Wise Girl."

Percy cracked up, his body heaving with the laughter that could only come when you weren't fighting immortal beings with the world's fate in your hands. Despite herself, Annabeth began to laugh too, savoring this moment like it was made of gold.

Annabeth agreed to walk through Universal, but she refused to go on any roller coasters. Percy didn't care. This day with his best friend in the world was all he needed. Seeing the engagement ring he had made her out of abalone on her finger, seeing her without her knife in her hand, seeing her beautiful gray eyes without the glint that comes from a hunger for survival... Percy saw Annabeth now, happy and completely carefree, and fell in love with her all over again. Each stuffed animal won at a game would become a forever-cherished souvenir of this wonderful day, but it wasn't nearly as rewarding as the kiss from Annabeth.

Needless to say, Annabeth shocked the booth manager at the dart-throwing game- years of practice with knives had taught her something. And while the park sadly lacked any sword-fighting games (Annabeth assured him it was because of liabilities or something ridiculous like that), Percy won his share of toys and kisses bobbing for apples, using his toes to pick up ducks from a kiddy pool, and fishing for plastic fish. Not that he actually bobbed, used his toes, or fished. Who needs to do that when you're the son of the Sea God?

Starving, Annabeth and Percy walked up a to a hot dog stand. The temptation was just too much- that greasy aroma smelled delicious after a whole summer at a camp with incredibly healthy, albeit tasty, food. As Annabeth stepped up to order, the man with the visor behind the register said, "My gods. Your eyes... They're gorgeous!"

Annabeth said thank you, but gave the man a look that couldn't have been mistaken for appreciative. Percy stepped closer behind her, close enough to be the only to hear Annabeth's whisper, "No one compliments my gray eyes. And no one says 'my gods.' And why is his visor pulled down so low?"

After ordering, Percy stepped up to sign the receipt, insisting on using his own pen. He leaned in close to the cashier and pointed his now uncapped sword at him discreetly, Annabeth partially withdrew her bronze knife from her purse just to let the man know she meant business, then quietly demanded identification.

"Oh, you've met me before..." the man whispered, but as he spoke, his face morphed into a more feminine shape, his hair growing out into dreadlocks... No. Not dreadlocks. Snakes.

Before he could react at all, Percy hit the ground hard- Annabeth had pushed him down, then grabbed the THING and thrown it on Medusa's head. None of the mortals could look at Medusa's face, or they'd all be petrified, and Percy thought that might put a damper on their lovely family vacations. The Disney park package probably didn't cover de-stone-ifying.

Thinking back to the last time they fought Medusa- gods, that was a long time ago- Annabeth pulled on her Yankees cap and whipped out her knife, while Percy searched around for some kind of reflective object. There- a crystal ball they had won at some game. Percy held it in front of him, careful not to look anywhere but in the ball, and tried to swing out at Medusa. But his hits came nowhere near her.

"Percy! Don't you remember? The shape of the ball distorts your reflection! You've gotta take the angle and assume..."

Her sentence was cut off by Percy lobbing the sphere at where her voice had come from and snatching the cap off her head.

They quickly switched roles. They advanced on Medusa back to back, Annabeth holding Percy's wrist to guide him in the right direction, and Percy with his blade outstretched. Percy felt Annabeth move with a lurch; she had thrown her knife at the Gorgon. They heard the monster grunt and fall, but she wasn't dead. Still using the crystal ball to guide them, Annabeth led Percy to where Medusa's head lay on the ground.

"She's all yours, Seaweed Brain."

Percy swung downwards and heard the surprisingly familiar crunch of his blade severing bone, followed by what sounded like a hundred balloons deflating- the tiny snakes exhaling their last. Annabeth carefully reached down to wrap Medusa's head in the awning, then threw it deep into the dumpster behind the hot dog stand.

"Just like old times, huh?" Annabeth said, a hint of reminiscence in her voice.

"Just like old times," Percy replied, echoing her longing tone. "I guess we never could resist a thrill..."

"Oh you know what? Fine. I will go on a roller coaster. Find the biggest one and I will ride it."

As the group of people before them shot away in the brightly colored cars, Percy looked at Annabeth and said, "You don't have to do this. You're already the bravest girl I know."

"Oh trust me, Percy Jackson, I know that. But I wanna do this."

"Okay." Percy put his hands up in mock defeat. This was the girl he had decided to spend the rest of his life with.

As they stepped into their car and put the bar down, Percy grasped Annabeth's shaking hand and asked, "You ready?"

"Oh gods no…"

"Did you know that every year, an average of 7 people die at every amusement park in the—"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain. You are _so_ not making this easy."

"I am never, _ever_ going to make things easy for you, Wise Girl. Get used to it."


End file.
